A device for providing a permanent source of energy comprised of a thermoelectric module for creating electrical energy created by a temperature gradient in the body.
Implantable medical devices (such as, for example, cardiac assist devices, drug infusion pumps, and pain management devices) all require electrical power to carry out functions such as pacing the heart, delivering a drug, or stimulating nerves. These devices also require electrical power for basic control functions and for communicating with other devices and with external controllers.
The use of these and other active medical implantable devices is growing in popularity as new technology enables further miniaturization and as the basic understanding of disease grows. An example of this is the recent expansion of electronic sensing and stimulation technology to applications in deep brain stimulation (DBS), which shares much of the technology developed for cardiac pacing systems and is providing relief to people suffering from Parkinson""s disease and epilepsy. The expansion of applications for implantable medical devices will only accelerate in the future.
One of the early limitations to the implantation of medical electronics was the power source itself, and much development work has been done over the past forty years to improve the reliability and longevity of battery sources and to reduce the power demands of the pacemaker circuits themselves. As a result, current pacemaker batteries last several years in many applications.
In spite of these improvements in pacemaker and battery design, and especially in the case of other implantable devices that put heavy demands on their power source, one of the primary reasons for surgical removal of cardiac pacemakers and other implanted devices is battery lifetime. The need for surgical removal of an entire implanted device is often the result of the need to integrate the battery into the primary device case in order to eliminate corrosion thereof and the adverse health effects of leakage.
Some attempts have been made to provide a renewable power source by means of applying external power, primarily by inductive coupling of radio frequency (RF) energy to an internal, implanted antenna. However, the use of this technique is inconsistent with the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), so patients with a radio-frequency rechargeable implanted device will be unable to have MRI diagnoses of potentially serious conditions. Additionally, radio-frequency induction often requires a patient to regularly set aside time for the recharging process; this is often inconvenient and frequently causes non-compliance.
The implantable devices that require such power sources are well known in the art; their power sources are often used to provide power for sensing, control, tissue stimulation, drug dispensing, external communication, and other necessary functions. Some of the prior art improvements in such power sources are discussed below by reference to several United States patents; the entire disclosure of each of these United States patents is hereby incorporated by reference into this specification.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,579 illustrates some of the recently developed technology relating to such power sources. This patent discloses a battery-monitoring apparatus and method for programming of cardiac stimulating devices; the patent specifically discusses methods for tracking power usage, monitoring battery state, and displaying the estimated remaining life of the battery power source.
By way of further illustration, U.S. Pat. No. 6,067,473 discloses an implantable medical device that uses audible sound communication to provide warnings of low battery life; among the warnings provided are voiced statements warning of battery depletion.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,956 discloses an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) having a relatively small mass and a minimal rate of power consumption. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,827,326 discloses an implantable cardioverter defibrillator having a smaller energy storage capacity.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,956 discloses an implantable stimulation device having means for optimizing current drain. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,856 discloses a pacemaker with improved shelf storage capacity. Both of these patents describe means for minimizing the power requirements of battery power sources.
Recent emphasis on the availability of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) diagnoses for patients has also created a focus on the inappropriateness of conducting such MRI procedures on patients who have implantable devices, such as cardiac pacemakers, installed. The electrical leads used in such implantable devices to both sense heart function and provide electrical pulses to stimulate the heart also act as antennae in the intense magnetic and radio frequency (RF) fields used in MRI procedures; the inductively coupled radio frequency energy received by such xe2x80x9cantennaexe2x80x9d are often sufficient to damage or destroy the pacemaker itself, and/or to create unwanted pacing of the heart, and/or to ablate blood vessels, and/or to scar sensitive heart tissue at the electrode/heart interface. Death of the patient may result, and has resulted, from one or more of these phenomena.
More recent developments in MRI technology have created the opportunity for magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), which is the use of MRI techniques that are focused on cardiac structures and function. This direct use of MRI at the heart often further exacerbates the existing difficulties in using MRI on pacemaker patients.
One solution to these problems is the subject of U.S. provisional patent application serial No. 60/269,817; the entire disclosure of such patent application is hereby incorporated by reference into this specification. The approach disclosed in this patent application is the use of fiber optics in place of electrical leads for pacemakers and for other implantable devices. The devices of this patent application provide means for transmission via MRI-proof optical fibers, and then re-conversion from optical to electrical pulses at the heart. In order to serve the relatively higher power demands of this optical solution to the MRI problem, either battery size must be substantially increased, or pacemaker installed life must be substantially shortened, or a means for recharging the pacemaker power source must be utilized.
By way of further illustration, U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,346 discloses a hermetically sealed cardiac pacer system and recharging system therefore. The approach taken in this patent is to use inductive coupling of external energy to recharge an internal battery. This and other similar approaches would help resolve the battery life issues discussed above, were it not for this critical issue of MRI diagnoses; the very presence of an element that can accept externally-provided radio frequency energy makes MRI compatibility for this and similar devices impossible.
Thus, there is a need to provide a power supply means for periodic recharging of an implantable device that is not susceptible to the deleterious effects of MRI and other forms of electromagnetic interference. Further, there is a need to provide this capability in a manner that does not detract from the nominal performance of the implantable device and to do so in a manner that is convenient for the patient.
It is an object of this invention to provide such an improved power supply.
In accordance with this invention, there is provided a biothermal power supply comprised of a thermoelectric module for converting thermal energy to electrical energy; with such a device, a temperature differential of only two degrees Fahrenheit across the device produces a power output of at least about 100 microwatts.